


Watch and Ward

by HowDidIGetUpHere



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Family, Kid Fic, M/M, Red Room, mentions of experimentation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2018-02-07 06:40:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1888764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowDidIGetUpHere/pseuds/HowDidIGetUpHere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“He kept watch and ward over him as over something very fragile, and very worthy of care.” -Notre-Dame de Paris, Victor Hugo</i>
  <br/>
</p><p>Steve and Bucky become parents and come to terms with their feelings for each other along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an absolutely shameless kid fic because Bucky and Steve would be the best parents.

“You're needed by the director.”

“Yes Ma'am.”

Steve nodded and waited until the agent was gone before turning back to Bucky. The other man- his best friend stared at him. Since the incident with Leo and Natasha losing all her memory of him, Bucky had good days and bad days. At least the good ones were starting to increase in numbers. The hollow look in his eyes reminded Steve too much of the first 24 hours he was himself again, after they'd used the cube to restore his memories and free him from what they turned him into. When he begged too be killed over and over again until he couldn't speak at all. 

“I'll be back as soon as I can.”

“Agent Barnes' presence is also requested.”

The two men glanced at each other before leaving towards the conference room.

“Rogers, Barnes. Have a seat.” Fury greeted them as they walked in.

“This is an extraction and erasure mission requires eyes on the field as well as inside intelligence. We've traced a Red Room storage facility to an industrial park in Norilsk, there should be records on their human experimentation both past and current along with locations of training facilities. Rogers you're going inside, getting any intel on Red Room you can and getting out.”

“Wouldn't I be more suited for this mission, sir?” 

“Barnes you'll be providing Rogers with any inside information you have to get him in and out unnoticed. I can't risk sending you into Red Room territory this soon after the recent incident, it wouldn't be an ordinary op to you, it'd be a revenge mission. Trust me kid, as soon as I need a Red Room facility torched or some dead Commie operatives you and Widow will be the first to know.”

Bucky nodded once and Steve reached out to put his hand on Bucky's shoulder but Bucky jerked away violently. His eyes were hard and dark for a moment before he closed them and shook his head before leaving the room to set up the necessary communications for the mission.

Steve spent the flight like he spent so much of his spare time now, going over in his mind what they must have done to Bucky to make him still recoil from the slightest touches, to have made him almost starve himself because he was convinced the food given to him was poisoned, to make him laugh aloud when shown that his new bedroom actually included a bed and stare incredulously when given access to a hot shower. Bucky was still the man he remembered in a lot of ways and someone else entirely in others. Steve had told himself over and over that the all he could do was give it time and over and over he felt like it wasn't enough. When the plane entered the drop zone he fastened his shield to his arm and parachuted into the forest below, he walked another five miles northeast until he hit the treeline and could see the industrial park littered with steel beams, smoke stacks, warehouses and cement buildings.

“The facility entrance is on the west facing wall of the southern most single story cinder-block building. This is a storage facility so there should be one guard just inside the door and one more deeper inside the building, probably near the main server room.”

“Got it.”

Steve pried the steel door open with little difficulty and was met with not one guard but several all dressed head to toe in combat gear and semi-automatics. 

“You were a little off on the guard count, Bucky.”

“....”

“Bucky?”

Radio silence answered him before his comm made a static noise and shut off. 

“Shit.” Steve cursed, some kind of interference cut him off from his only outside help.

The guards outnumbered him but didn't outmatch him, an alarm started blaring and he started running towards the center of the building until he found an unmarked door amongst several dozen unmarked doors that had a brass handle instead of a gold one like all the others. Kicking the door in he saw a descending metal staircase. Running down at least six flights he found himself in what looked like an entire underground hospital ward with concrete floors, walls and ceilings in favor of tile or drywall or a coat of paint. Turning a corner Steve saw seven doctors, three nurses and eight guards bleeding out on the floor. Most of them dead and the ones that weren't yet were beyond saving, a closer look told Steve that all the wounds were self-inflicted. 

Walking up and down the hallways he discovered that before killing themselves the medical staff had killed the patients. These people must have been tortured, some had disfigurements and burn scars. Some had limbs missing or mutilated and all of them were malnourished. Steve swallowed the bile that rose in his throat and continued searching for anything he might be able to bring back. Passing another patient room he heard movement coming from inside, anyone without enhanced hearing would've missed it. He took slow and careful steps inside the he found himself looking at a little girl huddled in the corner of the room wearing a dirty hospital gown and she was covered in blood but he was fairly certain it wasn’t her own. Crossing the room Steve pushed back the cowl and held out his hand.

“Its okay, I'm gonna get you out of here.”

She stared up at him, eyes wide.

“Do you speak any English?”

She continued to stare at him wordlessly.

“Are you hurt? Can you come with me?”

She pushed herself onto her feet and took his hand, Steve picked her up and her arms tightened around his neck. He grabbed the patient file off the metal table next to the door and made a mad dash for the stairs. Hurdling the bodies and pools of blood slowed him down and he could feel the little girl clinging harder to him. Once he cleared the threshold she started shrieking and covering her eyes and it occurred to Steve that this was more than likely the first time she's ever seen sunlight or been outside. He set her down and ripped the sleeve off his uniform.

“Here this will help...” He tied the fabric over her eyes and she flinched worse then Bucky ever did.

“Hey, hey its alright. I'm not angry with you, your eyes hurt.” He took her little hands in his.

Her breathing slowed down but her body stayed tensed as she inched towards him. Steve gently pulled her into his chest and hugged her, she wrapped her arms around his neck again and he took that as permission to pick her up and keep moving. They reached the extraction point and he hit the button on his signaling device, ten minutes later the helicopter arrived that would take them to the Quinjet. The little girl fell asleep in his lap on the flight back to SHIELD and thankfully none of the lower ranking agents questioned Captain America's extra passenger. Steve knew he should read her file but he couldn't bring himself to open it. After landing he carried her inside to the debriefing room.  
Fury, Natasha and Bucky were already waiting for him.

“They cut off your comm line to Agent Barnes but you made it back so I assume you were alright.” 

Fury spoke without looking up and then Natasha cleared her throat, He looked up to see what Natasha and Bucky were staring at.

“It wasn't a storage facility, it was a hospital but they weren't taking care of the patients- I don’t know what they were doing to them. Staff all swallowed bullets but not before walking the halls and shooting the patients in their rooms.”

“And the girl...” Natasha's face was set like stone, her eyes steely with memories of another life.

“I found her in her room, she must've hid and they must've missed her. Here-”

Steve tossed her patient file onto the table.

“Haven't read it yet.”

“You need to bring her to Medical, we'll look through the records you brought back.” Natasha shot.

Steve nodded and spun on his heel to leave the room. Halfway to Medical the girl woke up and lifted her head to stare up at him. 

“Do you know your name?” Steve blurted out as soon as he realized he had no idea what to call her.

“Bela.” She stated after a pause.

“That's a beautiful name.” Steve smiled at her, she still stared at him expectantly.

“Oh! I'm Ca- Steve. You can call me Steve.”

She nodded once and rested her chin on shoulder for the rest of the walk. Once at Medical she'd absolutely refused to let go of Steve's hand so he had to stay in the room. This was the first time Steve had gotten a decent look at Bela; it was way too dark before. Her blonde hair was so light it looked closer to white than blonde and it fell past her shoulders. Her gray/blue eyes framed by long dark lashes. But past those features were the scars and the bruises that left stinging in Steve's eyes. Thin scars intertwining across the pale skin of her back like a pattern of lace. Deeper, thicker scars where stitches should have been given but never were. Purple and red track marks all up and down her arms where IV and syringe needles had been stuck over and over. Cuts, scrapes and bruises on every inch of her little body. She winced at every touch and it took everything Steve had not to punch a hole through the wall or vomit. When the doctor brandished a syringe of her own to draw blood Bela scrambled as far away from the doctor as she could, screaming and crying. She wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her face into his diaphragm, pressing into him as far as she could. He rubbed her back and held her still until the doctor was finished (she'd made no effort to quicken the procedure or offer her patient any words of comfort).

“We need to keep her here to run some more-”

“A pint of blood is more than enough, doctor. You have what you need.”

“Captain, you don't have the clearance to take the subject out of medical just because you've grown an attachment. This is a Red Room experiment not a child-” 

“She is a child and she stays with me, we're leaving.” His voice was full of all the bravado and authority he put used battle.

Without sticking around for part two, Steve took Bela's hand and walked out of the medical bay, heading straight to Director Fury. He tried hard not to let the doctor's words get to him, it was more difficult than he'd admit. Through the rage hazing his vision he still couldn't shake Bela's reaction, she said more in her fear of the exam room than she had since he found her and now she was back to staying close to him and not making a sound.


	2. Chapter 2

“Agent Romanov, Agent Barnes, Agent Coulson and I have been going over her file and what's in there is disturbing to say the least.”

Director Fury slid a copy towards him as he sat at the glass conference table. 

“Agent Romanov is confident that the place you found was not a Black Widow academy. The girl's name is Bela...meaning destruction in Hebrew and there's no last name here for her or her biological parents. Her parents are listed as Viktor and Yekaterina from Volgograd. Apparently they were in deep with the Russian Mafia and they agreed on selling their unborn child to The Red Room in exchange for new identities in the United States- clean slates and a new life. Of course Red Room is always in the market for children they don't have to kidnap and coming up with fake identities for Viktor and Yekaterina would be no problem so they took the offer without hesitation. Two Red Room agents were in the room when she was born to take her with them. 

Three days later they returned to give Viktor and Yekaterina what the couple assumed would be their clean slates- instead the agents killed them both. Between the hospital she was born and the Red Room facility you found was the first and last time Bela would see daylight. Her file states her as three years old, birthday November, 19th. From the time she was capable she was given standard combat training. Given her age, weight and size Agent Romanov believes she isn't a lethal threat to any of us. However her fighting abilities will atrophy over time now that she'll no longer be trained.”

Fury's eyes flicked up before he continued speaking. 

“This branch of Red Room was not breeding spies, this branch specialized in genetic experimentation. This project in particular was called “The Ares Project”. According to her records Bela was to be modified so they could turn her into a killer that would make The Winter Soldier look like a joke. Starting with DNA and cellular altering injections, implants and treatments. As she got older they planned to begin nano-cybernetic enhancements such as bones that don't break, lungs that never tire and a body that doesn't need food or sleep more than once or twice a month. Bela was one of thirty-four candidates in The Ares Project, all participants ranged from birth to 15 years old. Even though she yielded less than favorable results to the scientists in charge of the project she was the only survivor. The Red Room deemed The Ares Project a failure and was shut down, however according to notes kept in her file the staff of the facility continued experimentation on Bela against orders. You may have already figured out that she's fluent in both Russian and English.”

All of them were silent, Fury and Coulson watching Steve, Natasha stared at the file on the table and Bucky keeping his eyes on Bela whose body was tense as she clutched Steve's uniform and avoided eye contact with anyone in the room, Bucky and Natasha especially.

“I won't let her get locked in a SHIELD kitty cell or thrown in an orphanage. She stays with me.” Steve finally broke the silence after a few long minutes.

“I figured you say that and it doesn't look like she'd let you go anyways. Natasha has already drawn up all the necessary paperwork. Agent Barnes will be accompanying you as he has valuable knowledge on Red Room experimentation that could prove useful in her ongoing care.” Coulson informed him and Steve heard the truth clear as a bell.

We don't want him alone right now.

Steve glanced over at Bucky who was still looking at Bela.

“Natasha will let the other Avengers know of the new arrangements. You and Barnes have paperwork to complete before you're clear for dismissal. Agent Romanov you're free to go...and if I'm not mistaking I believe Agent Barton is on the training floor.”

The corner Natasha's mouth raised the smallest bit at the mention of Clint and she stood up to leave before turning to both Steve and Bucky.

“I'll call you tonight, Steve.” She kissed his cheek and smiled. A real smile that didn't belong to the Black Widow but to Natasha Romanov.

“Agent Barnes.” She gave him a curt and professional nod, her voice was much less casual and far more impersonal than it had been a second ago with Steve and it left Bucky looking very tired.

The two of them filled out the papers in silence, Steve raised his eyes to look at Bucky every now and again and eventually they both finished the tedious task. He knew that every once in a while SHIELD would have temporary custody of children whose terrorists and bad guy parents they'd detained until CPS could take them. So he wasn't terribly surprised when Coulson brought back what looked like a child size alteration of a SHIELD uniform sans the insignia. The outfit made Bela look like a tiny spy but at least she had clean clothes and shoes for now. 

“I guess we should go.” Steve smiled.

“Sure.” Bucky's voice and face were both blank as he stood up.

Bela slid off his lap, Steve stood up and offered his hand which she took without much hesitation.  
The three of them walked out onto the street and started towards the nearest subway station. Bela was tense and clearly scared to be outside and surrounded by more people than she's ever seen in her entire existence in a place that must look like Wonderland to her. She gripped his hand tightly and when a two passing Taxi Cabs honked at each other she jumped and snatched Bucky's too. Bucky very obviously had to bite back the reflexes of a man who was made into a weapon. She didn't let go and Bucky started to relax. She didn't care that his arm was made of metal that moved just like her's and Steve's, she didn't examine it or react to it any way. Steve thinks Bucky liked that.

On the subway back to Brooklyn Bela carefully studied every person in the car, her eyebrows knit into the same expression that Bucky wore less these days. A combination of tension, uneasiness and distrust. They finally made it home without incident and Steve made it all the way to the kitchen before he realized that Bela was still just inside the door, unsure of what to do next. 

“Bela do you want to help me make dinner?” He tried.

She looked up at him and nodded slowly, like it was a test and she was answering incorrectly.

“Go wash your hands, down the hall first door on the left.” 

She walked towards the bathroom and looked over her shoulder at him several times, as if to make sure she still had his permission to move freely and to check that she wasn't doing anything wrong.  
Bucky still stood near the window with his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyebrows drawn together. Steve watched him as he dumped the raw spaghetti into the pot of water on the stove but didn't ask.

“Its still so much like it was back before...” Bucky trailed off.

“That’s why I picked this place, the most important things never change too much I guess.”

Bucky just continued to stare out the window.

“You want a beer?” 

He nodded roughly and walked into the kitchen and Steve pulled two beers from the fridge. Bucky muttered a thank you and popped the caps off the bottles with his metal hand. The brunet moved closer and didn't step away. Steve could feel Bucky's breath on his collar bone and he couldn't stop himself from leaning a little closer. This was the first time since he's been back that Bucky's allowed him closer than arms length away, not just allowed it but closed the space himself. Steve lifted a hand to the side of Bucky's face and ran his thumb across his cheek. Bucky's stubble brushed against his hand as he leaned into Steve's touch making him let out a long, soft breath. Bucky raised his hand and pushed Steve's hair back slowly before pulling away sharply, it was just luck that Bela was coming back down the hall. 

Steve sat her on the counter and let her add the sauce and stir the pasta to her hearts content. Bucky leaned against the opposite counter for a while before saying he was going to shower leaving Steve and Bela to eat dinner without him. Bela sat at the table looking at her food for twenty straight minutes before she even picked up her fork. Steve thought about whether or not they'd poisoned her food like they did to Bucky and that's why she was reluctant. Or if this was the first time she'd ever been offered solid food and she was fed through an IV her whole life. He guessed the second scenario was the correct one- just before she picked up her fork she studied how Steve used his, when he picked her up it was impossible not to notice how light she was even for a three year old, how he could feel her bones through her clothes. She did eventually finish her bowl of spaghetti after watching Steve power though three or four of his own, she must've been convinced that it was safe to eat if he ate it too. Bela yawned as he took her bowl to put in the sink.

“Better get you to bed.”

She slid off her chair followed him to the guest bedroom which would now be her room. Bela walked in the room and stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes snapped up to him before she slowly turned her head back to the twin bed near the widow. Steve grinned and gestured for her to go ahead. She took slow, careful steps across the floor and pressed her little hand to the top of the mattress, she touched the blanket and the pillows and dropped to the floor to look under the bed. She whipped around and for the first time she smiled at Steve, it was big and bright and the most beautiful thing Steve had ever seen in his life. She pulled back the covers and scrambled into the bed, grinning and pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. Steve leaned over and tucked her in the way his mother used to do.

“Spokoynoy noch.” She mumbled sleepily as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Goodnight.” Steve smiled and kissed her forehead before he slipped out of the room.

Pulling out his phone and send a text to Tony:

_Senior citizen needs your help shopping for this decade. Pepper's too if she can._

Then left it on his nightstand.

Bucky had snuck out to the couch where he had his own pillow and blanket from Steve's linen closet and pretended to be asleep. Steve didn't have it in him tonight to point out that he knew he was faking, Bucky was understandably uncomfortable with what happened in the kitchen and Steve knew when to keep his distance. So he retired to his own bedroom and ignored the tightness in his chest. He ignored how cold he was and ignored his teeth chattering as he fell into a black and white sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive any butchered Russian, I used Google Translate because I'm lazy American trash.

He woke up to a string of new text messages from Tony and Pepper:

_Tony: I'm so there._

_Pepper: You're going to let Tony buy your clothes?_

_Tony: Do you have anything against parachute pants?_

_Tony: Nevermind, don't care._

_Pepper: I'm coming as damage control._

_Tony: We're 20 minutes away. BE READY._

Steve half-groaned and rolled out of bed, to his surprise Bela and Bucky were both awake, dressed and eating cereal in front of the TV. Bucky didn't say anything besides a mumbled good morning but Bela ran and hugged his legs and said good morning. The first phrase she's said to him in English since the doctor's room at SHEILD. Before Steve could formulate responses to either of them there was knocking at the front door. Impatient knocking. Bucky opened the door to reveal Tony Stark and Pepper Potts on the other side. 

“Bring tall, dark and angsty, we'll get him a new wardrobe too. It'll include more colors than black and slightly darker black.” Tony yanked his sunglasses of dramatically as he entered the apartment.

“We aren't shopping for Steve and we sure as hell ain’t shopping for me.” 

“Then what am I here for?” Tony wrinkled his nose and Bucky jerked his thumb across the room.

Tony and Pepper turned to look where Bucky pointed, Bela inched closer to Steve at the attention of the two new adults. 

“Bela, this is Tony and Pepper- they're our friends.” Steve ran a hand through her hair.

“Privet.” It was more of a squeak than anything else. 

“Hi there. Steve, what's happening here?” Tony actually sounded genuinely concerned.

“This is Bela, she's three- almost four I think- I found her by mistake on a mission in Russia. Red Room's had her all her life...her parents sold her to them to buy themselves out of a jam. Red Room kept her in an hospital underground and experimented on her. No way was I gonna leave her at SHIELD either.”

There was a long pause before anyone spoke, Tony and Pepper both still looking at Bela, trying very hard not to think too much on why she looks so small and what the marks on her arms entail. 

“Well then it looks like we have some shopping to do!” Tony declared, lightening the mood again.

They went out and Bela was in a state of shock at entire buildings full of clothes and toys and everything else. Steve told Tony and Pep what she'd been wearing when he found her and the condition it was in. She was cautious as ever but she did actually start looking at clothes and always looked at Steve to make sure before touching anything. The longer they were out the more comfortable she got, holding Tony and Pepper's hands, talking to them and smiling. After two or three stores they learned that she had a preference for pink. As they were leaving to go home they passed a shop and Bela tugged on Bucky's pant leg.

“Can we go in that one?” She asked.

“Sure.” Bucky answered as he opened the shop door for her.

She walked straight up to a light pink ballerina tutu that was on display.

“Do you want it?” Tony knelt down next to her looking at the pink garment.

She grinned and nodded.

“Oni pozvolyayut mne tantsevat', yesli ya byl khorosh. Yesli ya isportil v tantseval'nom klasse oni byli by bezumny...Oni ne otpustil menya ochen' mnogo, no ya dobralsya, chtoby nosit' krasivyye veshchi i mastera u menya volosy dovol'no takzhe. Ya lyublyu tantsevat'... Eto moya lyubimaya.”

Tony, Pepper and Steve all looked at Bucky whose eyes looked very far away and very sad.

“She said that they would let her dance if she was good. In the Black Widow program ballet is a part of their cover stories so they train them very hard in Red Room. She said the masters would be angry if she made mistakes in dance class. But when they let her go she got to wear pretty things and they'd even do her hair...she liked those parts a lot. She said she really likes to dance, that its her favorite.”

Bucky then looked back at Bela and knelt down to her level like Tony had.

“Khoteli by vy , chtoby pokazat' mne pozzhe?” He asked her.

“Yes!” She looked so excited that Steve got a little jealous of whatever Bucky said to give her that look.

Tony returned with the now paid for tutu and Bela grabbed both Steve's hands and bounced up and down a little in front of him.

“Can I wear it now?” She begged.

“Yeah.”

She smiled and drug Steve and the bags he was carrying to go change

When they returned Bela was dressed in gray leggings, a pink top, Nike sneakers and of course the pink tutu. She finally looked like the three year old she was supposed to be. 

Back at their building after all the thank yous as Tony and Pepper were leaving the red head pulled him into a hug and whispered in his ear.

“I think that was the happiest I've ever seen you. With Bucky and Bela....You deserve this, Steve.” 

She smiled again and kissed his cheek before taking Tony's hand in her own.

“When you come over I'll let you do all the fun stuff that gramps won't.” Tony ruffled up her hair and she giggled. 

“I'm bringing her over soon to meet the team. I need Bruce to see her.” Steve mentioned.

“The sooner the better, Natasha said she had something to tell us tonight and I'm guessing this is it.”

Steve and Tony then participated in a dude hug before another round of goodbyes and it was just the three of them again. Bela wasted no time in dragging Bucky to her room leaving Steve with the chance to kick back with a beer and watch the game. Bucky sat on the floor where Bela had instructed him to and watched as she fidgeted with her tutu in front of him before she started to dance. It was a surreal sight: almost flawless pirouettes, pliés, jetés and pointes being performed by a three and half year old. When she finished she curtsied. 

“chto bylo samym krasivym baletom, kotoryy ya kogda-libo videl.”  
 _That was the most beautiful dancing I've ever seen._

She grinned like it was single most important statement she'd ever heard.

“Vy znayete, kto ya, Bela?” Bucky's voice came out rough and shallow.  
 _Do you know who I am, Bela?_

“Da, vy Zimniy Soldat.” Her answer was what he expected but still didn't want to hear.  
 _Of course Master Comrade, you are the Winter Soldier._

“Eto verno.”  
 _That's right._

“Ty otlichayesh'sya ot togo, kak oni skazali.”  
 _But you're different from how they said, Master Comrade._

“Ya?”  
 _Am I?_

She nodded.

“Ty ne pokhozha na nikh. Ty dobryy i nezhnyy . Vam ne bol'no, kak oni bolyat . Ya khochu ostat'sya zdes', s toboy.”  
 _You're not like them, Master Comrade. You're kind and you don't hurt like they hurt. I want to stay here._

It was too hard for him to ignore the prick in his eyes so he enveloped her in his arms and pulled her into his chest. She crawled into his lap and hugged him back.

“Ya khochu ostat'sya zdes', s toboy i Stivom. Pozhaluysta, ne pozvolyayte im nakazat' menya, khozyain tovarishch.”  
 _I want to stay here with you and Steve. Please don't let them punish me, Master Comrade._

“No, Bela. I'll never let anyone hurt you ever again.”

Bucky could feel the tears soaking into his shirt as she nodded her head. After a few minutes she was asleep. Carefully, he laid in her bed and let her sleep in his arms and for the first time he didn't hate his cold silver limb. 

Steve caught the pair fast asleep on his way to his own bed, he didn't wake Bucky but he certainly got a photo on his cellphone. 

The next morning Bucky found Steve making coffee in the kitchen, he stared at the blond's back for several minutes before he decided to make his presence known by clearing his throat. 

“Hey, Bela still sleeping?” Steve turned.

“Yeah...I-um...I'm sorry I've been distant.”

Steve's expression softened, he grabbed a second cup of coffee and handed it to him.

“Is this how you felt when I didn't remember you?”

“I try really hard not to think about how I felt when you didn't remember me. You loved her, Buck. Don't apologize.”

“When you were dead I spent everyday wishing I had told you everything, that I hadn't run away because I couldn't bring myself to face you. I'd have done anything to have you back.”

“I'm here now.” Steve whispered.

“I can't risk you too. What happened to Natalia was because she was close to me, she suffered because I loved her. I won't let that happen to you too, Steve. And if anything happened to Bela? Its too dangerous for me to be anywhere near her. What Leo did was all I need to know that I'm not meant to be close to anyone. I don't deserve it and I won't let more people get hurt because of me.”

“Are you telling me that you're leaving?” Steve's voice was nearly inaudible

“I have to.”

“Like Hell you do!” Steve raised his voice enough to make Bucky jump.

“I waited so long to get you back and now you're trying to tell me that that's it? I don't get a say? Just 'I'm angsty and wallowing in self-pity, goodbye Steve.'? I've loved you my whole life and now you're saying I can't because it might be dangerous? Like I don't face more danger every time I walk out the damn door? That's not fucking fair and you know it!”

Steve's hands were shaking, his eyes burning like they did all those years ago when his body didn't match his heart like it does now. Bucky couldn't stop himself from closing the space between them and placing his mouth on Steve's. The super-soldier pulling him in possessively as if to keep him from running away. Bucky broke the kiss and looked Steve in the eyes.

“What if you guys get hurt because of me?”

“I can take care of the three of us. Its my turn to start protecting you for a change.”

“I've loved you a long time too you stupid punk.”

Bucky smiled as he rested his forehead against Steve's. 

“You deserve to be happy Bucky. You have to believe that.”

“There are people who would disagree with you.”

“I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.”

“Well, now you're starting to sound like me.” Bucky laughed.

Steve held Bucky's face in his hands.

“You make Bela feel safe, she loves you. I love you. It's your choice if you want to go, Buck. But please know how much we want you here.”

“I missed you, Steve.” Bucky spoke through the lump in his throat.

They kissed again and it didn't take a genius to see that they'd both been wanted to do that for a long time. Sure they'd been together back before the fall and the ice but they were never allowed to let the secret slip. Dishonorable discharge and the very real possibility of being killed for being homosexual and all. Then there was Natasha and Sharon, they each fell in love with other people and they were happy. But now despite all odds he was breathing in Steve's scent and running a metal hand through his hair with the other man pressing kisses to his collarbone. Steve's super hearing must've picked up on Bela padding down the hallway because he stopped kissing Bucky but wrapped and arm around his waist to keep him close. Still buzzing with Steve-induced endorphins Bucky grinned at Bela the moment she set foot in the living room.

“Hey devochku!” Bucky scooped her up and spun her around making her smile like crazy.

“Sleep good?” He settled her on his hip.

“Yeah!” 

Bucky dipped her until she screamed laughing. She squirmed her way onto the floor and ran to Steve as fast as her little legs would allow, she hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek.

“What was that for?” Steve laughed.

“In The Facility the Masters said that's how you tell someone they're special to you.”

“They did?” Steve asked, Bucky looked interested too.

“Yeah, they showed us a lot of movies of how people are outside The Facility, so we'd know what to do if the Masters went away.”

“Did they ever give you kisses, Bela?” Bucky spoke up.

“Nyet, they never would touch us unless it was for training or medicine.” 

“What kind of medicine, milaya moya?” Bucky leaned forward.

“The Masters said it was to make me better.”

“Better?”

“Better than The Winter Soldier and all girls at the Black Widow Academy. The Masters wanted to make me strong. But I didn't like it...it made me feel sick and it made everything hurt. They gave the medicine to other people too but they never got up after.”

Steve pulled her into a hug and kissed her several times.


	4. Chapter 4

That night Bucky slept in Steve's bed, in Steve's arms with his face pressed against Steve's collarbone and his lungs filled with Steve's scent. He laid awake a little longer just to appreciate his current position. It wasn't Russia or Croatia or Cambodia...it was Brooklyn. He wasn't freezing cold or aching, he was warm and comfortable. Bucky kissed the line of Steve's jaw just because he could and Steve smiled in his sleep. 

“I forgot that I could feel this happy.” Steve voice was rasped and thick with sleep.

He shifted and kissed Bucky's temple, long and lingering, before drifting back into sleep with Bucky following right after.

Steve dreamed of ice and freezing cold water, he couldn't move his lips and his arms were numb. His legs felt so heavy that he couldn't try to swim, even if he could he didn't know where the surface was. He could make out Bucky through the water, he was young. He was unconscious. His arm was missing and in its place was a spilling of blood, obscuring him in a hazy cloud of crimson water. Steve couldn't force himself to move, the water burned his lungs. Then he was being shaken awake, softly but urgently and his eyes eased open to see Bela standing beside the bed with one hand on his shoulder and the other wiping her wet cheeks. Despite his head still being asleep Steve's body instinctively sat up and turned on the light earning a muffled groan from Bucky.

“What's wrong, are you hurt?” 

“I had a nightmare...the Masters came to take me back.” She uttered with a sob.

“Do you want to sleep with us tonight?” Bucky asked as he slowly propped himself up.

She nodded and raised her arms for Steve to lift her onto the bed and she climbed under the covers between the two men who had to move to make for the little girl. She tucked into Steve's side using his bicep as a pillow and put her hand in Bucky's silver palm as he rolled onto his side to face her. 

“We won't let anybody take you away.” Bucky stroked her hair.

“Anyone who tries will have to go through us first.” Steve added.

“The Masters said normal people wouldn’t love us because we were unlovable.”

She stayed quiet for a long moment.

“I'm happy that you guys aren't normal.” 

In the morning Steve woke up to an empty bed and a note on his nightstand:

_Fury called, be home later. Made Bela breakfast. - Bucky_

Sitting up in bed he could see Bucky's tactical gear missing from its spot in the closet, he pulled on a pair of jeans and threw on a white t-shirt before finding Bela coloring at the coffee table. 

“Do you want to meet my friends today?” 

The little girl turned around and kept a pondered look on her face for several moments.

“Okay.”

“Alright, go get dressed and we'll go.”

Sure enough she came back wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers shirt with pink leggings, red sequined mary-janes that looked like The Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz which Bucky had picked out for her and of course her tutu. Steve put on his own Adidas and they were off. Once the were at the door of the building Steve donned sunglasses and put his Yankees baseball cap on Bela's head, pulling the front down a bit. The Avengers were targets of the paparazzi and the last thing he needed was Bela's face being splashed across every gossip rag in the country. At the Tower he was greeted by JARVIS as was Bela who Tony must've told the AI about as soon as he met her. 

_“Good Morning Captain Rogers. Sir has made several security updates to the Tower as the young lady's safety has become a personal priority to Mr. Stark.”_

“Thanks, JARVIS.” Steve still smiled at the ceiling even though he knew he didn't have to.

Bela's grip on his hand tightened as her eyes darted around wildly.

“That's JARVIS. He's here to make sure everyone is safe, he takes good care of us.” Steve smiled.

_“Thank you Captain. If there's anything you'd like Miss Bela you need only to ask.”_

She looked up at Steve.

_“Mr. Stark mentioned you like chocolate milk. There's a glass waiting for you in the kitchen.”_

That did the trick, Bela got a big grin.

“Thank you JARVIS.” She said with a slightly timid voice.

_“Of course, Miss Bela.”_

They got off the elevator and went to the kitchen, JARVIS informed the others where they were. Tony arrived first earning Bela's bouncing in her chair excitement before she crashed into him with a hug and Steve wondered if the smile on Tony's face meant more than just being glad to see them. 

“yest' nashi krasivyye devushki.”  
 _There’s our beautiful girl._

Natasha followed by Clint walked into the kitchen and Bela stood in a rigid militant ready position with her arms straight at her sides and her eyes focused only on Natasha.

“Khozyain Tovarishch.”  
 _Master Comrade._

“V etom net neobkhodimosti.”  
 _That’s not necessary._

“Ya znayu svoye mesto v prisutstvii legendarnoy Black Widow. Razreshite govorit' svobodno, Khozyain tovarishch.”  
 _I know my place in the presence of the legendary Black Widow. Permission to speak freely, Master Comrade._

“V svoyey tarelke. Razreshayu.”  
 _At Ease. Permission granted._

The men in the room stood still and silent as they watched the scene playing out in front of them. Clint looked on edge about Natasha's sudden transition into what looked like the Russian agent she was when he met her for the first time. Tony wasn't cracking any jokes, just looking on with concern at the harshness of the two that seemed to come out of nowhere. Steve was a mix of concerned and frustrated as he didn’t know enough Russian to follow the conversation and he hadn't seen Bela behave this way since she's been with him.

“Pozhaluysta, ya ne khochu, chtoby vernut'sya. Rasskazhite svoim komandu, chto Uchitelya prekrashcheny vse proyekty fonda v belyy, vklyuchaya i menya. Oni ne budem otpravlyat' vam iliZimniy Soldat dlya menya snova. YA ne smog expiriment oni nikakoy pol'zy. YA ne khochu ukhodit', ya khochu ostat'sya so Stivom.”  
 _Please, I do not wish to go back. Tell your command that The Masters terminated all projects at Facility White, myself included. They will not send you or The Winter Soldier for me again. I am a failed experiment they have no use for. I don't want to leave, I want to stay with Steve._

Natasha's expression softened and she sat on the floor in front of Bela.

“Vy verite , chto zima soldata sobirayetsya vernut' vas?”  
 _You believe that The Winter Soldier is going to bring you back?_

“Da. On byl dobrym i nezhnym so mnoy , chtoby zarabotat' moye doveriye. No pochemu on ne prinimayet menya obratno v fond bestsvetnyy? Pochemu ne tak li? Yesli vy dolzhny zavershit' svoyu missiyu ya tol'ko proshu vas proyavit' miloserdiye k Stivu. Pozhaluysta, bud' milostiv Chernaya Vdova.”  
 _Yes. He has been kind and gentle to me to earn my trust. But why would he not take me back to Facility White? Why wouldn't you? If you must complete your mission I only ask that you show mercy to Captain Amerika. Please, be merciful Black Widow._

“Potomu chto my izbezhali takzhe, i my ne khotim vozvrashchat'sya takzhe . Yasha khochet , chtoby zashchitit' vas , malyshka. My vse delayem.”  
 _We escaped too and we don't want to go back either. James wants to protect you, little one. We all do._

“Togda vy mozhete vzyat' yego?”  
 _Then you can take it out?_

Tasha blinked several times to clear her eyes of something. No one pointed out that they were tears.

“Da dorogaya, ya mogu vzyat' yego, i ya unichtozhu yego.”  
 _Yes sweetheart, I can take it out and I will destroy it._

“We need to take her up to Banner, there is a device in her that needs to be removed immediately. James must not remember having his.” Natasha stood up.

“Cool, field trip!” Clint grinned as he tossed Bela onto his shoulders making her squeal and laugh.

As Clint, Tony and Bela went ahead Steve waited back and walked with Natasha who still looked sad.

“What did she say?” Steve asked quietly.

“She thought that James and I were sent to bring her back or kill her. Red Room must not being telling about our defections. They're still using us as idols and monsters...who we used to be anyways. I told her that we escaped too and that just like her we don't want to go back to Red Room either. She said she wanted to stay with you but if I had to complete my mission she begged me to not hurt you.”

“She did?”

“Most Red Room projects forget how to feel anything for others, people are just targets to them. It takes a long time to break that conditioning down if they ever break it at all.”

“What's this device?” Steve asked again.

Natasha's step faltered the tiniest bit, so small that only Steve could've seen it at all.

“Its a counter measure for anyone who defects. Activated the moment a project steps outside of their authorized zone. Obviously for field agents the zones change with each mission but for Bela her only zone would be the facility as she never left it.”

“So its been activated for almost 72 hours? What does that mean? Are they coming? Can they find her?” Steve tried to hide the urgency in his voice and was failing pretty spectacularly.

“No its not a tracking device...”

“Then what is it?”

Natasha bit her lip before speaking.

“Once activated it releases a cocktail of toxins and poisons meant to torture, incapacitate and eventually kill the project. A final reminder of their power over you. The whole process takes five days total and is excruciatingly painful, I don't know how Bela is even able to stand let alone continue to act as if she isn't in agony right now. Red Room trains its projects never to show indications of pain even under the most dire of circumstances and evidently they've gotten better at it. I made it two days before I couldn't move, Clint had to get it out with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a combat knife. I'm guessing that James took his out himself at some point.”

“Oh God...she's been in pain this whole time?” 

“Steve you couldn't have known.” Natasha placed a hand on his arm.

“I should have.”


	5. Chapter 5

After Natasha filled Bruce in he said he was going to have to put her under to remove the device and then run her blood to see what residual toxins were left in her body and treat from there. Tony had New York's top pediatrics team consisting of the best nurses, doctors and surgeons at the Tower within the hour and Steve would never be able to thank him enough for that. After the device itself was removed Bela was transported to an actual hospital with the proper equipment and skilled staff that had been pre-briefed and signed to top level confidentiality thanks to a phone call to Coulson. Everyone stayed with Steve in the waiting room, even Thor who had flown in from London as soon as he'd heard that the child Natasha had told him about was sick. Each minute that passed with no new information took its toll. Three days went by. Not for the first time that night the doctor came out and each Avenger shot to their feet behind their Captain. 

“Which of you is her family?”

“We're all her family.” Clint supplied.

“And who is the most immediate?”

“I am. I'm her father.” The words felt heavy in Steve's throat.

“Biological?”

“Adoptive.”

Something in the doctors face changed.

“If I could have a word with you privately, Captain Rogers?”

Steve nodded and followed the man around the corner, behind him he could feel the others itching to back him up. But this wasn't the battlefield, he was helpless here. Where he was needed most.

“How is she? Can I see her?” Steve couldn't stop himself.

“I'm afraid not. The poison is much more advanced than we expected and aren't reacting to our antitoxins or other forms of treatments. We've exhausted every avenue, the most we can do now is make her comfortable-”

“No! Please, I'm begging you-”

“Captain Rogers, we've done all we can. Unless you know a way to flush out any and every poison known to man there's nothing we can do.”

“Use me!”

The doctor raised an eyebrow to him.

“The Super Soldier Serum! It can combat any toxin or poison, I've yet to come across anything that can get through it.” 

“There's no way to know how your serum will work against the toxins and more importantly how it will affect a child of her age, size and history.”

“If we don't try she'll die. Please, she's my daughter.” Steve's voice was rasping with desperation.

The doctor stood for a long moment in thought.

“If there's even a sliver of chance to save a patient I'll take it.”

Before he could tell anyone anything he was being hooked into an IV and there were taking his blood one bag at a time to the OR. After four bags they said it should be enough but he made them take five. He had lost copious amounts of blood in his line of work and he knew how to handle it. 

Walking back out into the waiting area he saw Clint and Natasha talking with Agent Coulson while Thor, Bruce and Tony hovered over a stack of papers in a manilla folder, Thor noticed him first. 

“How are you feeling?”

“A hundred percent, Thor. Thanks.” 

“Good to hear, because we need you in the field.” Coulson stepped alongside Thor.

“Phil I can't leave-”

“I wouldn't ask unless it was necessary, Captain. It's Agent Barnes.” Phil frowned.

Steve's eyes narrowed as Phil turned the tablet to him, on the screen Bucky was in full Winter Soldier dress including the mask, wherever he was it was dark. Coulson played the transmission.

“Codename: Winter Soldier. The infiltration and immobilization were completed successfully however information at the designated site lead me to something else. Just over six days ago Captain Rogers recovered a child from The Red Room's experimental medical division known as Facility White. According to his reports all staff and patients were deceased upon arrival with the of exception the child recovered. However the intel I discovered in Chernihiv, Ukraine lead me back to Norilsk, Russia where I tracked down “The Masters”- the people in charge of Facility White. From Norilsk, it was easy enough to find their current unassuming hideout in Pikesville, Maryland. They escaped while the rest of Facility White's agents killed the patients and then themselves, they are unaware of the little girl now living with Captain Rogers and myself. The Masters took the remaining cases of the serum that Facility White was engineering when they escaped and are now preparing for a new subject. The new subject is unborn at this time, the child's mother has been taken and impregnated by The Red Room against her will, it is currently unknown what will happen to her after the child is born. I'm requesting back up as I do not intend to leave without the assured safety of the child and extermination of Facility White along with any and all of its remaining projects. Winter Soldier out.”

The transmission ended and the screen went black.

“As you know its more than just a little risky to let Barnes charge head first into a Red Room operation and its even riskier to let him do it alone. Considering that the Red Room operation is a repeat of what happened to Bela I expect him to act more recklessly than usual. No one works with Barnes as well as you do. Not to mention your own personal motives for stopping this operation.”

Steve stared at Coulson, he wanted to back Bucky up and he really wanted to get his hands on these people for what they did to Bela. But he couldn't just leave, he couldn't leave her to be alone again. 

“Captain.” Thor's hand on his shoulder broke him out of his thoughts.

“Go. Only you can know what these men deserve and each one of us wants you to give it to them. I will stay and keep watch over young Bela until your return. She could not be safer so long as I am here and if she wishes it, I will fly you back here myself. You have my word.” 

Glancing over the thunder god's shoulder he saw Clint and Natasha resting against each other in chairs that faced the nurses station so they'd see Bela's doctor the moment he walked out, the two had been interrogating every staff member that had the misfortune of crossing their eye line. Tony and Bruce were working on a tablet trying get into the hospitals servers and look at Bela's progress as it happened. Pepper stood around the corner talking on her cellphone telling someone to route all medical bills to Tony's bank account. The waiting area was looking more like a camp site with empty coffee cups and blankets and pillows littered everywhere as they'd made it clear that no one was leaving anytime soon. These people were his best friends since he came out of the ice, he trusted them with his life on battlefield. They were his family after all and now they were hers too.

“Thank you.” Steve said it loud enough for everyone to hear but didn't direct it at anyone specific.

Tony, Bruce, Pepper, Tasha, Clint and Thor all smiled at him and he nodded one more time before tearing himself away to get on the quinjet waiting for him on the hospital roof.


	6. Chapter 6

Just before landing Steve called Clint's phone for about the twentieth time since he left. Before they could start the blood transfusion the surgeons had to remove all of Red Room's failed, broken and infected modifications most of which were in her heart and lungs or attached to bones, so far they weren't even halfway done. Clint said it would be several hours before the whole operation including the transfusion would be finished. Steve thanked him and hung up as he belted in for landing. 

Once they touched down he was given Bucky's location and a set of car keys. It was a thirty minute drive from the landing strip to the run down hospital that Facility White was working out of. Trading his Captain America uniform for an all black get-up he slipped into the building from a side entrance unnoticed. Bucky had shut off his communication device three and half hours ago which either meant he was hiding and couldn't risk speaking or he had been caught. Steve was betting the former. The rooms that had patients in them were in poor shape and the patients themselves were all very old, no children or even just adults, all elderly and very very sick. The doctors and nurses all wore gloves and masks everywhere and never removed them. Breaking into a supply closet he snagged a pair of scrubs and put on gloves and a face mask of his own, with them on he looked like any other unassuming doctor in the place so he was able to walk the hallways without hiding or looking over his shoulder. 

At the nurses station he managed to get into the computer, looking the all the logs he could get into he couldn't find anything that stood out as odd or out of the ordinary. All the patient ages matched up with the people in the rooms and the medications were normal ones like Oxycontin and Morphine. For all intents and purposes this place was just a hospice and nothing else. Nothing illegal at all, not even a nurse stealing out of wallets it seemed. He jumped when a blonde nurse with bloodshot eyes was standing on the other side of the desk screaming in Russian and waving a clipboard in his face. She shoved the chart into his hands and handed him a syringe as she pointed down the hallway. He nodded and started moving in the direction she was pointing, behind him she grabbed another stack of papers and tray of medications off the desk and hurried into the elevator.

At the other end of the hallway he looked around but no other doctors or nurses or staff of any kind were anywhere to be found. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man with brown hair and long sleeve thermal under his scrubs sprinting down a corridor with his arms full of towels and linens and disappear into what looked like a bathroom. Checking behind him to make sure no one was around he took off after the man. The door he vanished into was now locked and not budging even for him. Taking a step back he aimed for the handle and kicked the door in, when it swung open he was met with a gun aiming between his eyes. 

“Don't shoot.” Steve put his hands up.

“Steve! Christ, you scared the shit outta me.” 

“Buck! Are you alright?” 

Bucky took a deep breath and nodded before backing against the wall and sinking onto the tile floor of the tiny dirty bathroom. There was blood covering the floor being sopped up by the towels and sheets he had just brought. Next to him on the floor was young woman, couldn't be older than sixteen and very pregnant. She looked sick and pale as a ghost, her lip was split, nose and mouth gushing blood and her eye was swollen and purple, her right arm was twisted and bent at an unnatural angle. Someone had beaten her very badly. she looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.

“Its gonna be okay, Anya. He's gonna get you out of here.” Bucky assured her.

“Anyone around?” Bucky asked him.

“No, nobody is on this floor. There was a nurse earlier but she was a hurry to get back on the elevator.”

“Good. These wounds need to be covered before we move her through the hospital, she could catch an infection if we aren't careful. No one comes to this floor for more than a minute or two and they never check the bathrooms, we should have time but we have to be quick.” 

“What is this place?”

“Looks like a hospice, right? I combed the place and couldn't find anything related to Facility White...until I went down to the morgue.”

“The morgue.” Steve stated.

Bucky nodded as he tended to the young woman's wounds, securing her an arm sling out of a bed sheet, cleaning the blood of her face gently, trying to convince her she was safe with them. 

“That's where I found Anya. I was with a group of other doctors, apparently if you speak good enough Russian and wear a surgical mask you can get anywhere in here. She was in a cell, nothing in there but a cot. They were...God, they were beating her Steve. She tried to escape when the door opened and they strapped her to the gurney and they beat her. I couldn't even stop when I saw it, I killed all of them...I couldn't stop myself.”

He got quiet for a moment before continuing.

“She doesn't speak any English.” He finished lamely.

“We need to get her to a real hospital.” Steve said quietly.

Bucky nodded as he finished dabbing the blood off her face with a cloth. 

Anya's shallow voice broke the heavy silence when she cried _“ona pereyekhala!”_ and grabbed Bucky's wrist, pulling it towards her and pressing his hand to her stomach. 

_“Udivitel'nyy.”_ Bucky murmured with a look of awe.

“What?” Steve asked, missing everything once again due to language barrier.

“The baby moved a little. Anya was scared she hadn't survived the physical trauma.” 

“Its a girl?” Steve leaned forward unconsciously.

“That's what the Anya says.”

“How far?”

“34 weeks.” Bucky answers.

Steve watched Anya, she was smiling and crying and holding the sides of Bucky's face.

 _“Ya slyshal ikh!”_ Sounded from down the hall forcing both men to snap up violently. 

They heard the voices approaching. Steve grabbed Bucky and shoved him through the door to the stairwell before lifting Anya up carefully and following. They ran the stairs fast and loud, six stories before the were on the ground floor. Anya clutching onto him desperately. Red Room agents dressed as doctors and nurses wielding rifles and hand guns catching up with them. Bucky pulled out another gun and gave Steve cover fire, yelling at him to not stop running. Steve ran ahead to the car and placed Anya in the backseat, he gave her his shield and she knew to keep it in front of her. Behind him he heard Bucky's voice permeate into the gray sky, whipping around he saw he'd been shot four times.

“Bucky!” 

The Red Room agents saw the shield and started backing up, yelling “Captain Amerika!” a few times before they retreated. Red Room wouldn't shoot down Captain America without orders in broad daylight, not today anyways. Steve ran back for Bucky who was staining the snow under him red. 

“I'm okay, nothing lethal.” He reassured as Steve picked him up.

“You're losing blood.” Steve grimaced.

“Steve, seriously you don't have to carry me to the car.” The brunette deadpanned before wincing.

“You carried me plenty of times.” Steve remarked.

Bucky just rolled his eyes and let his head hit Steve's shoulder.

Steve loaded Bucky into the passengers seat, started the car and sped for his life to the extraction point where the jet would be waiting by now. Glancing in the rearview he saw Anya, barely able to keep her eyes open, smile at him and mouth the words “thank you” in English. 

“I'm taking you both to the hospital Bela is at. SHIELD has medics on the jet until we touch down.”

“Bela's in the hospital?! What happened? Is she alright?” Bucky shot.

“Red Room put a device in her that was supposed to kill her. Poison her for a whole week. I gave my blood to reverse the effects. Last I checked in they were removing all of Red Room's implants. I didn't want to leave but I had to save you're reckless butt.” 

“You like my butt.” Bucky smirked as he too skirted in and out of consciousness as blood pooled into the cracks of the vinyl seat. 

 

The SHIELD agents on board the plane were able to stop most the bleeding. Clint called and said so far the serum was making quick work of Red Room's toxins and Bela was sleeping in a recovery room now- Tony texted a picture of a tiny sleeping Bela as a nurse inserted an IV with a towering and intimidating looking Thor sitting right beside her for good measure. The doctors say she should be awake by the time they get back. 

On the helipad a medical team was waiting for Bucky with gurney and another medical team for Anya.  
Bucky snatched his hand away from Steve's and ordered him to go find Bela. Entering her room he saw Clint standing on a chair with a hospital sheet tied around his neck as he dramatically acted out a story, everyone else was watching him and smiling, Bela in Thor's lap laughing. 

“Look who's back.” Clint grinned and stepped off the chair.

Everyone turned to see him and Bela stretched around Thor to see. 

“Daddy!”

She slid onto the floor and ran to him, he picked her up and hugged her as she clung to him.

“You came back.” Her voice was muffled by his shirt.

“Of course I did, I could never leave you.” He kissed her cheek.

“So where's Bucky?” Clint asked.

“He's in surgery, he'll be good as a new in a few hours.” 

“When can we go see him?” Bela pouted.

“Don't worry I won't go see him without you.” He assured. 

The team slowly started to say goodbye in favor of their own beds and Steve promised they'd all be by the tower as soon as they were allowed to leave. With nothing better to do Steve allowed himself some shut-eye as Bela had fallen asleep after everyone left.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve woke to a nurse nudging his shoulder, opening his eyes and being careful not to jar Bela who slept tucked under his arm. The woman smiled softly and told him he could go upstairs to see Bucky whenever he was ready. Running his fingers through Bela's soft blonde hair she stirred and gazed up at him.

“Want to go see Bucky?”

She sat up and jumped out of the bed and started pulling on her shoes. Steve laughed and took her hand and lead her down the hall to the elevator. Bucky was on the floor above them in a non-pediatrics part of the hospital, so Bela made sure to be especially quiet and didn't stray from Steve's side. Pausing outside the room they said Bucky was in, he tapped his knuckles against the door. 

“Come in.”

Steve and Bela walked into the room to see Bucky sitting up in the hospital bed looking as though nothing had happened at all, half-cocked smirk and all despite his bandaged and wrapped abdomen- visible due to his hospital gown being on backwards and hanging open. Cradling an impossibly tiny newborn bundled up in a pink blanket against his chest. Bela tugged on Steve's hand as she gazed up at him.

“Is she coming home with us too?”

Steve smiled, Bela stared at him another moment before looking towards Bucky who nodded.

“You'll like living with them, I do. They'll love you too...they're good at that.”

Bucky laughed and Steve swallowed back the sudden lump in his throat. Bucky patted the space next to him for Bela who scrambled onto the bed and snugged herself into him like she did Steve. 

“That's quite the battle scar you got.” Bucky eyed the new surgical scar that ran alongside Bela's spine. 

“Don't you scare me like that again.” He pushed her hair back.

“I wont, Papa.....What's her name?” Bela asked.

“Lucie. Her mother liked that name.” There was sadness in his voice.

“I like it.” Bela approved.

Time ticked lazily by with the exception of a few visitors, nurses who came in to show the two of them the proper ways to hold, feed, pat and change Lucie, doctors checking in on Bucky's wounds and bandages. Sam and Sharon even came, they were surprised to meet Lucie and Bela but exasperated might be a better word for it. They left not too longer after they'd arrived clearly seeing what hectic day it had been. 

Bela reclaimed her spot on the bed next to Bucky and she chattered to him animatedly before drifting off, now entirely asleep under the blanket. Steve sat in the chair next to Bucky's bed gazing down at Lucie in his arms who held fiercely onto his index finger as she slept, she had fine silky caramel brown hair and big icy blue eyes the same color as Buck's. But she was a good amount smaller than the other newborns he'd seen when he ventured down to the nursery, she weighed only 5lbs 2oz and he couldn't stop himself from worrying about that. 

“Anya wrote my name on her birth certificate just before she...” Bucky trailed off.

“Doctors said if we'd been even five minutes later the baby wouldn't have made it. They told me it was something called “fetal distress”...Never heard that term before.”

“You did everything you could.” Steve's voice was steady.

Bucky's eyes stayed downcast, his hand twitched as his eyebrows knit together.

Lucie's face scrunched up as she started to cry, Bucky's arms reached out and Steve passed her to him.

“Can't believe anyone in their right mind would make me a father. I don't think Anya realized what she did. I mean, Bela's different. She's not....so small and completely breakable.” 

“You do realize she completely stopped crying, right?” Steve grinned motioning to Lucie who was now happily grasping at Bucky's metal fingers.

Buck turned a little pink and ducked his head making Steve smile as the baby was passed back to him. 

It was just before dawn as mute blue light encompassed the hospital room, everything was quiet except for a distant sound of a slowly beeping machine and the hushed noises of their light breathing. The air was almost cold and it felt as though something tangible and thick settled into the feet of empty space between them. It felt like everything from Earth's rotation to the blood in their veins to all the electric currents traveling around them had gone still. They stayed like that for a long time just watching each other.

“Will you marry me, Buck?” Steve broke the silence with a whisper.

“Yes.” 

Steve gravitated towards him closed the space between them, Bucky pulled him close and touched his mouth to the blond's.


	8. Chapter 8

When they discharged from the hospital a nurse at the desk handed Steve a set of keys. Outside the doors there was a brand new Volvo SUV with the proper car seats and a note tucked under the windshield wiper. 

_Its temporary so don't get attached. Thank me later, Spangles. -Tony_

 

The trip between the hospital and the Tower was short but Bela was uncontrollably excited the whole drive. As the four of them stood in the elevator Steve found himself feeling quite proud of the mismatched family of geniuses, super spies, assassins and a thunder god he's somehow gained in the 21st century. The doors slid open and Bucky hoisted Bela onto his hip as Steve followed the two carrying the car-seat with both hands. 

“A little bird told me you brought home more than a souvenir, Agent Barnes” Natasha appeared in the foyer. 

“So are you guys gonna a bring back a kid after every mission now?” Clint teased.

“Nah, two is plenty.” Bucky answered casually. 

“Who's this?” Bruce asked pointing to the carrier as he came down the stairs- Tony on his heels.

“That’s Lucie, she's almost five hours old.” Bela said bouncing as she was let onto the floor.

“Would you like to hold her, Natalia?” Bucky puffed out his chest like a proud papa bird.

“What did you call me?” Her brows creased.

Bucky froze, he didn't mean to let that slip. The room was tense as the two stared at each other for several long minutes.

“...James.” She finally whispered.

She curled her long fingers around Clint's hand tightly as the pieces fell together in her mind. Her eyes wide and focused and seeing. 

“I see everything....I remember....I remember.” Her voice was still quiet.

Bucky couldn't imagine what his face looked like right now but he was sure it was pitiful because he felt Steve's hand rest on his shoulder from behind him. No one in the room moved a muscle.

“How long?” She asked.

“A year and ten months.” Bucky answered without even having to think.

The two of them stared at the ground for several minutes before Bucky bit his lip and looked up.

“We reminded each other of too much. Our wounds couldn't heal. For almost two years I've gotten to watch you be well, Natalia. Healthy and happy and better than we ever could have been together.” 

Natasha broke from Clint and hugged Bucky tightly and for a long time.

“In all our years I've never seen you look the way you do right now, there are no words for how glad I am for that. Thank you, James. For letting me go, for letting yourself be happy, thank you for everything.” She kissed his cheek before pulling away.

“Not bad for a couple of assets, eh Natalia?” Bucky smirked.

“Are you going to stand there with that stupid smirk or are you going to let me hold her?” Nat punched his arm playfully. 

“I hope you brought the keys to that jalopy because I finally finished your car last night.” Tony said.

“Finished?” Steve raised an eyebrow.

“And just in time, apparently.” He replied already walking onto the elevator motioning to be followed.

Down in the underground garage where all the Avengers parked and where Tony performed unsolicited maintenance on everyone's cars, bikes and other modes of transportation Steve and Bucky were staring cautiously at the vehicle parked before them.

“Gentlemen I present to you the first, last and only in the line of Stark Industry cars, built by yours truly of course. Lightweight armor plated, projectile-proof glass;that includes bullets, DoomTech, rockets, laser, satellite and drone guided missiles, the whole thing is nuclear weapon and radiation resistant, shock absorbent, watertight and with the gas prices everybody keeps complaining about- one hundred percent arc reactor powered. Pep found the best car-seat money can buy because she was convinced I'd add rocket boosters if I built it myself but that's neither here nor there. She'll get one for the baby too. Oh! And if its ever in an accident it'll call SHIELD, The Avengers, me, police, fire department and an ambulance within .03 seconds of impact, not to mention the car has a homing device in it if we ever need to find you, pretty cool right? Well, I aim to impress.”

“Tony...” Steve started.

“You built a bomb proof car?” Bucky squinted.

“You don't like it.” Tony's expression went from excited to hurt in half a second.

“Anthony Edward Stark you are an unbelievable idiot to think for a second we wouldn't love this.”

Steve bear-hugged Tony hard enough to draw an actual whine from his best friend.

“Heated seats! Steve its got heated seats!” Bucky's voice was obstructed by the fact that he was already in the drivers seat and touching everything.

On the way home they stopped at the courthouse and picked up a marriage license, a certificate and were married with Natasha as their witness in under 45 minutes and it wasn't even noon yet. Bucky decided that being national heroes had its perks, sometimes. 

That night sleep found them easily but at precisely 2:17am Bucky bolted out of his deep sleep upright and alert, the suddenness of it causing Steve to do the same. 

“What is it?” Steve whispered.

Bucky's eyes straining though the darkness, sharp and focused told him it wasn't a nightmare.

Then he heard it, barely a shift of weight on the floor before Bela's tiny voice was crying for them.  
Before his head could function his body was barreling down the hall and into her room. There on the floor was a man dressed all in black clutching his nose, broken and gushing blood, standing near him were four other men and one woman. Bela standing on her bed posed for combat with the man's blood on the heel of her palm- the image unnatural on a three and a half year old wearing pink Hello Kitty pajamas. 

_“Vashi sobstvennyye chertovy materi ne uznayet tebya, kogda ya cherez!”_ Bucky was screaming as he lunged forward with a knife that seemed to appear from thin air. 

Bucky whipped around, his icy eyes drilling into Steve's.

“Go!” 

Steve knew what he was saying, to get to Lucie before they could. Wasting no time in getting her into his grasp he held her with one arm and rushed to get back to Bucky and Bela. When he returned all five men were lying dead on the ground with Bela unharmed and Bucky with his knife pressed into the woman's throat. 

“Tell them I'm coming for every last one of them.” Bucky hissed into her ear.

“Tell them yourself, Winter Soldier.” She laughed.

Bucky pressed the knife deeper, drawing a steady stream of blood.

 _“Kosmonavt.”_ The woman smirked as she uttered the alien word.

Bucky's eyes rolled back into his head and his body went slack as he hit the floor making it twist oddly. Behind him Bela did the same only the bed cushioned her fall.

Steve made a choked sound at the sight of her looking so perfectly asleep.

“Red Room trigger word, non-lethal but it does make them easier to deal with.” She smiled at Steve.

“Won't work on me.” He shot.

The blonde woman crossed the room until she was within arms length when Steve punched her straight across the face and sent her to the floor. A blow like that should have knocked her clean out but she stood up immediately looking annoyed, within half a second she whipped out a gun and shot the super-soldier point blank in the chest. The loud pop of the gun made Lucie start crying, Steve pulled her up closer to him ignoring pain and the blood spilling out of his chest and his vision going black at the edges. She fired again next to the first spot and he sunk to his knees. The woman stepped forward and took her from his arms just as they went limp and he lost consciousness.


	9. Chapter 9

When Bucky came to he was freezing cold, there were goosebumps on his skin and he could see his breath in the air, his teeth would be chattering if his body wasn't used to being iced. Trying to move he found himself strapped down to a surgical table. The room was pitch dark save for a red light illuminating his form. Trying too hard to get free resulted in an agonizing electrical current rushing through his body leaving him screaming. After his own voice died off in a hoarse, throaty noise he could make out the sound of a crackling intercom speaker somewhere to his left. 

“The more you struggle the less enjoyable your reintroduction will be, Winter Soldier.”

The tinny voice filtered in through the static in Russian.

“Where are they?” He kept his voice low and menacing.

“Do not worry, Winter Soldier. The projects you got so attached to are in the best of hands.”

“If you touch them-” He was cut off by an electrical current surging through him again.

“You are not the one giving orders here.” The voice supplied.

He writhed and coughed out some blood.

“Those projects to are of no concern to you now but rest assured they are in capable hands.”

“You have me! You don't need them anymore, you have your perfect soldier back.” He didn't even care about how desperate he sounded. Hell, he was desperate.

“Hardly. You've become quite corrupted, its going to take a lot of work before you're suitable to return to the field. But you did manage to finish your last mission before you came back to base, we were pleased.”

“Mission?” Bucky strained to remember.

“Mmm. The trigger word re-engaged your dormant programming and you put two bullets in the Captain's chest.”

His breath caught in his chest and his blood stopped in his veins. What had he done? His old programming was gone, they'd been sure of it. But if that were true the trigger word shouldn't have worked at all. He knew he couldn't shoot Steve but what if he wasn't really him anymore. Steve was dead and he pulled the trigger. Twice. The bile rose in his throat and the wetness pooled in his eyes.

The brutal electricity returned, this time for twice as long and then the heavy metal door was painstakingly opened and a woman wearing a crisp white uniform stepped inside. She approached him and swiftly plunged a syringe into the exposed flesh of his neck. And it all went black.

They kept him in a bare cell with cold concrete floors and no windows. Shock therapy was administered to him four times daily without anesthetic and he was brought for “neurological reconfiguration sessions” twice daily where they secured him into an apparatus that injected information and memories into his head. They weren't erasing anything. Yet. On the fifth day two men entered his cell and hauled him to feet. 

They brought him to the electroshock room and put electrodes on his temples. Then the shocks started. 925 Volts, more than twice the safe level for a normal human but Bucky hasn't been normal in a long time. All his muscles switched violently from convulsion to contraction leaving his limbs contorting into unnatural positions and an upsetting strangling sound ripping out of his throat past the rubber bite block between his teeth. He could feel his body's painful, erratic movements, he could feel the burning inside every inch of him, he could feel the bleeding in his brain but all he could think of were the children he promised to protect. The children who had trusted him to protect them. And through the seizing and blood and electricity something inside of him snapped. Something buried deep and out of reach and forgotten...broke open. The shocks stopped and room fell silent. In that moment of stillness, Bucky was more sure of this than he'd ever been of anything else in his life: 

The Winter Soldier was going to kill everyone he could get his hands on.


	10. Chapter 10

The light of the too bright surgical lamp was blocked out by the masked doctor leaning over him and removing the bite block.

“How do you feel, Winter Soldier?” His voice falsely warm.

He sat up slowly and stared at a spot on the floor for a few minutes while everyone in the room waited patiently to hear what he was going to say. His eyes flicked upward at the doctor as his hands shot to the sides of the man's head and jerked it almost all the way around until he heard the snap. The other people in the musty room inched backwards as his feet hit the cold floor, rotating his left arm he felt it recalibrate and settle again. He killed the three nurses with his bare hands before walking towards the two agents standing on either side of the door, looking afraid and unsure of themselves. Before they could react he took the man's gun from his holster and shot them both point blank in the head, unblinking as their bright hot blood splattered across his face.

Fastening one of the dead agent's holster around his hips he helped himself to both of their guns: an MP-433 Grach and a SIG P2226. Not his first choices but they'd work fine for now. Coming into the corridor he saw elevator doors at the other end. Taking the elevator to the next floor he strode down the hall and targeted a lone agent that had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The hallway was empty except for the two of them so Bucky didn't waste his time with any lead in, he grabbed the man by the front of his uniform and slammed him up against the wall with his left arm, pressing the gun barrel under his chin. The agent's legs swung helplessly a good 6 inches above the ground as his erratic breathing ruined any hope he had of maintaining any authority. 

“Where do they keep the security footage?” Bucky commanded his full attention.

“The Winter Soldier.” He looked like he was seeing a ghost and he was.

“If you know who I am, you know what I can do. Answer the question.”

“T-the central security office is on the opposite side of the floor, at the end of this hall and turn left.”

Bucky pulled the trigger and the back of his head burst open in blood and chunks of bone.

Sure enough he found the locked door right where the agent said he would. Kicking the door open he entered the small room with a full of screens and monitors. Scanning through the endless images of empty hallways and various training sessions he learned that Lucie and Bela were more than likely the only children in the whole facility, that would make them easier to find. Then he saw the room he needed to visit first, the armory. After a few more minutes the floor his girls were probably on finally came up, the fifth floor. Set up like a hospital and several people in scrubs and white coats roaming the floor. 

Bucky felt a growl ripple in his chest, he turned around sharply and made a b-line for the armory on the lowest level. He wasn't surprised to find two heavily armed guards standing at the door, killing both of them he made a mental note that someone would notice these bodies sooner rather than later. Taking on a hoard of Red Room agents would be a lot more difficult when Lucie and Bela were with him so he had to make this quick if they were to get out unseen. 

He grabbed a KA-BAR Combat knife, slung an M4A1 around his shoulder, put on tactical belt and filled the pouches with ammo. He remembered reading somewhere that newborn's ears were pretty sensitive so he picked up a silencer too. Finally he filled a duffel bag with explosives and tucked the detonator in his pocket. After strapping a knife sheath to one thigh and a holster to the other he got back on the elevator. He knew it was going to be a blood bath at best and a part of him looked forward to it.

The doors slid open and he was met with a large group of agents pointing their guns at him.

“Winter Soldier, this is your only warning: stand down or we will shoot to kill.”

He knew they were bluffing, he was too important to Red Room to be shot over the deaths a few nameless agents. 

Unfortunately for these men Bucky was not bluffing. Not in the slightest. 

Opening fire with M4 he watched as all the agents fell down, a few attempted to shoot but none of them came close to hitting him. The sound of his boots sloshing through a half inch of blood brought on a host of unsavory memories that he had to swiftly push aside. He made sure to aim lethal, he was no Hawkeye but he had always been a hell of a shot. Bloody boot prints were stark against the white tile as he left 23 dead men behind him.


	11. Chapter 11

The fifth floor was brightly lit and the walls, floors and ceiling were a sterile, gleaming white. He made careful note to leave a high yield explosive every hundred feet or so. There were only two high security rooms in use, those had to be where they were. The rooms weren't hard to find but a retinal scan was required to open the door. As he rounded the corner his mouth fell, his jaw tightened and his eyes darkened. 

At the end of the hall was a nurses station that looked like it was the central hub of the floor. A woman in a white lab coat grabbed a chart off the desk, Bucky thew his knife and pierced the doctor though the temple and she quietly sunk to the floor. When he got to the desk the man working there had his back turned, he wore ordinary blue scrubs and was clearly a nurse. As he turned around Bucky vaulted the desk and slammed him to the ground. 

The nurse gasped and clutched at the flesh hand around his throat and the boot on his chest keeping him pinned. Briefly, Bucky was grateful they had re-issued him the old Winter Soldier uniform when he woke up here. Bucky ripped the badge clipped to the front of his scrubs and slid it into one of the pockets of his tactical vest. The nurse gargled and kicked, Bucky lifted a finger to his own lips leaving the man squirming and turning his head away. Tightening his grip around the nurse's throat the Winter Soldier hovered over his victim's horrified face before metal fingers dug in and plucked out his right eye. The lack of oxygen finally stopped the squirming and the nurse lay motionless on the smooth floor. Bucky wiped the gratuitous blood off his hand using the dead man's shirt, after standing up he noticed the security camera pointing at him, the red light blinking steadily as Bucky stared into the lens with a blank face. Slipping the organ into his pants pocket and pulling his knife out of the doctor's head he walked away as silently as he had come. 

The retinal scan was accepted and the door unlocked itself with a loud click, he entered the room very slowly. Bucky took a deep breath as he approached the complicated looking incubator, tubes and wires leading to a host of beeping machines and monitors. As he peered inside his fists clenched and he could feel his teeth grinding. It was Lucie but the hospital identification bracelet around her tiny ankle read:

_'Project 117, Gender: F, Age: 26 hours, Weight: 5lbs 3oz'_

Bucky swallowed hard, there was thick gauze covering her eyes and an oxygen tube in her nose. Reaching inside he felt the internal temperature of the incubator was warm, he remembered the doctors telling them that she'd have trouble maintaining body heat because she was so small and to consistently make sure she wasn't cold. Steve's superhuman metabolism always left him running a little hot so it hadn't come up in the few short hours they had her before all of this. But the underground facility would naturally be cooler and probably proved way too cold for the infant.

Cupping her head with his right hand she immediately started crying at the contact, a cry that he had never heard from an infant, It was urgent, piercing and grating, like she was in terrified-- it made his stomach roil. Gently he started peeling away the gauze using the other hand to block out the overly bright light in the room. 

He let out his held breath as he found her eyes blinking, intact and attempting to focus on him. He moved a little closer so she see him clearly and her crying slowed to a stop. Reading the labels on the drip bags his racing mind relaxed when he saw they were only saline. One by one he removed the sensors and electrodes and all the other tubes and IV drips. Picking her up he allowed himself a few minutes to hold her, kiss the top of her head and be thankful that she seemed no worse for wear. She seemed glad to see him too, clutching desperately to the front of his jacket and making generally happy baby noises. 

The second room was at the opposite end of the long hallway that he tracked blood all over earlier-- he hadn't entirely thought that all the way through. Bucky shielded Lucie's sight from the mess because he didn't even want to think about the psychological repercussions of her seeing a literal pile of dead bodies. 

The second room's retinal scanner let him in as easily as the first, there was a nurse inside the room writing something down. Bucky aimed for the back of her head and the silencer worked wonderfully. Bela looked more fragile than ever as she sat obediently on the worn out cot, her eyes hesitantly raised upwards until she was looking at him. 

“Papa!” She wasted no time crashing into him.

“They hurt you.” It wasn't a question and he spoke in Russian.

He picked her up and held her as close as he could, she wrapped her little arms around him as tightly as she could and pressed her face into his neck.

“I knew you'd come, I told them. I knew you wouldn't forget us.” Her voice was hoarse and she was speaking in Russian too.

“I never wanted you to see me this way, Bela.” His voice came out heavy and choked.

She twisted around in his arm, cupped his face with her hands and put on the most serious face a three year old could muster.

“You fight bad people, that makes you good. Daddy said so.”

She said it like it was end all, be all of morality and like nothing Steve said could possibly be wrong.

Oh God, Steve. They needed to get out of here, he needed to know what he did and if Steve was alive. He pressed a kiss to Bela's forehead making her smile for the first time since they've been here.

“You have to tell me everything they did to you, so I can keep you safe.” He explains.

He sets her down and she fidgets a little before starting.

“They tried to give my old medicine again but it didn't work and they got very angry and started talking about Daddy and his blood. Then they filled a bag with my blood and took it. They tried a new medicine and it still didn't work. They gave me a lot of different kinds of pills and shots and nothing happened. They started training me again too. I didn't want to listen to them but-”

“No, Bela you did good. You did good.” He ran a hand through her soft hair.

“Anything else?” He asked.

“They said I'm bad now, they hit me a lot and said I was close to being defective but they could still fix me. They said they'd be more thorough with the new project...and they said a lot of things about you and tetya.”

“Tetya?”

“Tetya Natasha.” She looked at him like it was most obvious thing in the world.

“I wouldn't want to be them when Tetya Natasha hears about that.” He grinned making Bela giggle.

Bucky held out his free hand which Bela eagerly grabbed and her told her keep her eyes closed until he said so. As he'd expected the elevators weren't operational anymore, he pulled the doors apart and stepped back. Bucky zipped Lucie snugly into his jacket and instructed Bela to climb onto his back and hold on as tight as she could. He gripped the cable and made the climb up nine stories to the ground level, leaving explosives on the ledge of each floor. 

Once on the ground floor he pointed to a hidden corner behind a door well.

“Sit right there, Bela.”

She did what he asked without hesitation. Bucky unzipped his leather jacket and laid it on the floor next to Bela before placing Lucie on top of it so she wasn't on the cold floor.

“Stay here, I'll be right back.” Bucky forced a smile in an attempt to be reassuring.

Bucky finally found an administrative computer and was able to break into the mainframe, a few commands later he opened up all the main gas-lines in the building.

He crept down the hall and found the thick metal door that he hoped led to the outside world. Yanking it open he felt icy cold wind stinging his face, stepping out he saw how wrong his assumption of their location was. Dark trees rose up against the skyline in every direction and snow fell heavy and hard. Peering around the wall there were two guards on patrol, looked like basic perimeter patrol. Using the SIG with the silencer he was able to take them out from behind and he made sure to take their ammo.

Stripping the men of their heavy coats, gloves, ushankas and boots he headed back inside. When he got back he saw Bela making faces at Lucie to hold her barely focused gaze—Bucky couldn't stop his smile if he tired. 

 

Sitting down with them he quickly bundled them up, buttoning up the coat all the way it still hung way too long on Bela and dragged on the ground, the ear flaps of the ushanka fell past her chin and the he had to lace the boots tightly so she wouldn't step right out of them. It was slightly easier with Lucie, he swaddled her up in the heavy coat and put the ushanka on her head. He was left pretty bare but he didn't have time to go hunt down a proper coat, Bela and Lucie had some protection from the harsh Siberian weather and that's all that mattered to him. 

Bela grabbed his hand again and gazed up at him.

“Ready to go home?” He asked and she smiled.


	12. Chapter 12

Once they were at the treeline they were a safe enough distant away for him to hit the detonator, he didn't look back but the orange glow of the explosion sent their shadows stretching several yards ahead of them. Bucky kept his hand on the back of Bela's head to prevent her from looking back either. They trudged through the dense forest for what felt like hours and it was only getting colder. He didn't have any grip on what time of day it was, sunset could be close and temperatures would drop dangerously after sundown. 

They walked another three miles and it was only snowing harder than before. Every minute or so he could hear Bela sniffling her runny nose or wiping it with her sleeve, glancing over it was turning pretty red and raw; her teeth were chattering too. Bucky focused on rubbing circles on Lucie's back to generate warmth, he hoped it was making some difference since his hand covered almost all of her tiny back. Two more miles and he was carrying Bela piggyback as he ignored the way the wind stung his face and eyes. Bela was shivering so hard it was difficult to keep her from slipping off him. He stopped walking and looked up at the sky, still blank and gray and not at all helpful at telling him where he was or even what time it might be. 

Pushing back the large fuzzy hat so he could get a look at Lucie he felt a shot of panic in his chest, her breathing was slow and her lips were ghosted with a blueish tinge. Bucky unzipped his jacked and sat on the freezing ground, Bela peeked over his shoulder as he pulled off his thermal long sleeve and his t-shirt leaving his torso naked and exposed to the icy air. He wrapped the thermal around Lucie tightly then the coat and finally put the too big hat back on her head and fastened the ear flaps together under her chin to help it keep from flopping around and letting heat out. Pulling his leather jacket back on he pressed Lucie to his chest and zipped the jacket back up over her. Next he pulled off his boots and Bela just tilted her head instead of verbally questioning him.

Removing his socks he took off the enormous boots Bela wore and pulled them over the pair of socks she was already wearing and then used his t-shirt to wrap around her neck and face until only her eyes were peeking out to protect her from the biting wind. 

Tugging her hat down so it was properly placed as if it might make her warmer he caught her blue eyes looking at him with a expression of concern that she only could have learned from Steve. Seeing that look he'd seen on Steve so many times so perfectly replicated on her face made him smile unexpectedly and gave him a welcome boost of energy.

“What about you, Papa? You're going to get cold.” She frowned at him.

“I'll be fine. It's more important that you're warm.” 

“But you don't have a shirt or a hat.” She was still frowning.

“Do you think the cold is stronger than I am, _milaya_?”

She gave it serious thought for a long moment before looking back to him and shaking her head.

“Right, now let's get going.” He grinned ruffling her hair.

Bucky walked through the night while the children slept. He kept his hands moving to keep Lucie warm and the grinding knowledge reminding him how little it was helping kept him on edge. Bela still shivered and Lucie's lips were still tinted blue despite the layers he'd added and he had no idea if he was getting any closer to finding them a way home. After the sun rose it started to get a little warmer if only by a few degrees. Lucie was wide awake but quiet as her eyes wandered around her surroundings, Bela woke up as well and was now trailing a few steps behind him. 

They walked in silence for a long time before he heard a thud over his shoulder, he turned around to see Bela pushing herself up from the snow. Lifting her back onto her feet he saw it was just a small trip that resulted in an even smaller scrape on her right knee. But her little shoulders shook and she started getting teary eyed, then she started crying, then she started bawling. Whole body trembling as her arms hung at her sides with tears pouring down her face. He sunk to his knees and hugged her tightly, she cried harder. He didn't know what to say or do, he didn't have anything hopeful or comforting to give her. He couldn't even keep her warm enough. This was his fault after all, they were out here because of him and that thought made him want to cry too. They sat there together on the ground and he let her cry as much as she wanted.


	13. Chapter 13

Bucky lost his breath when he finally saw the glowing lights of a small town, Lucie and Bela were both exhausted but alert and without any extra layers beside his jacket, pants and boots his whole body had gone numb long ago. But that didn't stop him from scooping Bela up and running the rest of the way there. Finding what looked like a motel he all but knocked the door down and stumbled inside after leaving all his weapons in the parking lot, the feel of warmth from the lobby's single space heater that was on its last leg made his whole body tingle and relax. 

The portly middle-aged woman at the desk scowled at him as he approached.

“May I use your phone?” He asked politely.

She still scowled at him

“Please.” He added assuming that's where he went wrong.

“You aren't from around here.” She spat.

“I'm actually just passing through, ma’am.”

“This isn't a place for tourists young man. You'll head straight out of town if you know what's good for you.”

This was more than likely a mob run town, they never appreciated outsiders interfering with their usual business. Not the first he'd been to, not by a long shot but he didn't have time for the mafia bravado and he was probably the most dangerous person in this town despite what the woman thought. 

“Please, just one phone call.”

“I don't think you heard me-”

“Please ma'am, I have a newborn. Please.” He unzipped his jacket to let her see.

“And my other daughter, too. Just one call.”

He was honestly pleading at this point.

Her scowl deepened as she leaned over the counter to see Bela.

“Are you with this man against your will, little one?” She asked with sudden kindness in her voice.

Bela shook her head purposely. 

“No ma'am, he's my papa.” The three year old sounded especially proud about that last part.

The woman eyed him once more before looking at the baby he held. Pulling the old phone out she left it in front of him before disappearing into the office behind her.

James Buchanan Barnes had never in his life dialed a phone number so fast.

It rang.

And it rang.

And it rang.

“Hello?” The voice on the other end had a harsh edge.

“Natalia-”

“James! _Bozhe Moi_ you're alive! Where are you? Where's-”

“Its okay, Nat. It's all okay. Lucie and Bela are with me, other than cold and exhausted they're alright. I'm in some town somewhere in Russia, I think. I don't really know where.”

“Find the nearest payphone and dial #33897#. That will send a signal to my phone telling me where you are. I'll ready a quinjet and I'll be there I fast as I can- about 18 hours. Until then find an ATM and enter 912-8154, withdraw as much as you need for food and supplies and rent a motel room. You can tell me everything when I see you.”

Her voice came so quickly and so steadily he found himself stumbling for a response.

He felt like he could breathe for the first time in days. Someone was coming for them, coming to take Bela and Lucie far away from here, somewhere safe and warm where they'd be protected. Feeling Lucie's heartbeat against his chest, feeling Bela as she held his hand and swung them back and forth. And suddenly he couldn't quite swallow back the lump in his throat.

“...James?”

“I- yeah, I'm here...Natalia...I don't, I- Thank you. Thank you, Natalia.” His voice cracked at the end.

“James.”

“Hm?”

“I'll see you soon.” She said warmly.

“Yeah, see you soon.” He replied.

And the line went dead.

As fast as he could he found a payphone and punched in the number Natasha had given him, it rang three times before an automated voice came on.

_Location obtained. Signal locked._

After the phrase was said the phone cut itself off.

Bucky pulled Lucie out of the warm spot inside his jacket and against his skin in favor of cradling her in his right arm if only to give her a different position to be in, he picked Bela up and settled her on his hip to carry her the few blocks to the one market occupying the town. Outside the store was the ATM he'd been hoping for, the pin number brought him to a secure account with a staggering balance and he didn't want to know how Natasha had put away a so much money into an emergency account. 

After withdrawing what he thought he'd need he grabbed a cart and sat Bela in front where she could help him pick things to buy. Dirty clothes and toting two very poorly dressed children Bucky received a plethora of odd and concerned looks from the other patrons at the market. Pushing the cart with one hand and absentmindedly rocking Lucie with the other they made their way up and down the aisles. Of course, being Bela she didn't ask for anything but he tossed some candy in with the TV dinners anyways- yeah, TV dinners weren't exactly stellar but he'd make it up to her when they were back home in New York. 

He stood in the baby aisle for ten minutes staring at everything and being overwhelmed before someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see a young woman with a kind smile.

“Single father?” She asked with knowing tone.

“Um, yes.” Bucky answered sheepishly.

“You'll want this brand, they're the best for the money. Newborn?” She asked referring to the sizes.

“3 days, but she's small though.”He scrambled quickly.

The woman's eyes bugged a little at his answer. 

“Only 3 days and you're on your own with another little one too?”

He searched his mind for some kind of response that didn't make it look like he stole two kids.

Thankfully it was more a statement than a question because she just smiled and gave a goodhearted laugh.

“This is the smallest size they carry here, might be a little lose but at least it wont fall off every time you pick her up and you're on the verge of tearing you hair out.” 

“O-okay.” He was still a little weary that she might call the cops after she left.

“Do you know what kind of bottle she likes?” 

“I...don't.” Despite everything he'd accomplished since waking up strapped to a table he was currently projecting himself as the world's most useless parent.

“That's alright dear, no one ever does after only two days. My husband and I started all three of ours on this brand, they're made so air bubbles don't get trapped inside so that'll save you a lot of time. We used the pacifiers and wipes by the same brand too.” She babbled as she put the products in his cart.

“Thank you.” His voice came out more surprised than sincere. 

“We're all this parenting thing together, right?” She laughed again.

“It was a pleasure meeting you Mr....?”

“Alexei.” He supplied.

“Well, I hope she lets you get at least a little sleep tonight Alexei.” The woman patted his arm.

She waved goodbye and left to go pay for her own items. 

Back at the motel with the less than pleasant manager from before, Bucky slid a considerable amount of cash across the counter. She was annoyed to see him again but sighed heavily and handed him a key nonetheless. The room was the farthest possible walk from the office because of course it was, but once he opened the door and saw the large bed and heard the heat kick on he didn't have it in him to be bothered anymore. Lucie was fussing so he pulled out a drawer from the old dresser and filled it with towels and a sheet off the bed, it was a crude excuse for a crib but it was soft and she couldn't wiggle away. Bela sat on the edge of the bed and swung her legs as she watched Bucky go about making up a bottle in the microwave, she giggled loudly when he tested the temperature on his wrist and cursed as the scalding hot liquid came into contact with his skin. 

He sat against the dingy wall of the tiny bathroom feeding Lucie while Bela took a bath, Lucie was in much better mood now and Bela was having a pretty good time entertaining herself with all the bubbles Bucky dumped in for her. Closing his eyes for a moment he could feel every single one of his muscles relax further and further until he felt like he might start falling apart. Not even a half hour later both kids were dead asleep, Bucky collapsed onto the bed and he was out before his head hit the pillow.


	14. Chapter 14

Despite his complete exhaustion Bucky's eyes fluttered open a few hours later, Lucie hadn't cried once yet and that worried him. Leaning over the side of bed he saw she was perfectly fine and continued to be fine the next four times he checked in ten minutes. Rolling back over he came face to face with Bela's pretty blue eyes watching him. 

“Did I wake you?” He whispered.

She shook her head.

“I'm excited to see tetya and dyadya and Daddy.” She mumbled.

“I miss Daddy.” Her voice slurred with sleep.

Bucky blinked and swallowed back the fear he suddenly felt. He didn't know what he was going to do or how he was going to explain to her that she wasn't going to see Steve again. He didn't even know how to tell himself that Steve- beautiful, bright, wonderful Steve wasn't anywhere on this Earth anymore. He was going to have to eventually. Bela was still pale from the cold, her lips were dry and cracked and her feet were covered in painful looking blisters from the boots. Bucky felt like he was falling again. 

When he looked to her sweet face again she was asleep.

Morning came and he was woken up by Lucie's cry that was really more a succession of hiccups.  
Bela was awake not soon after, he flicked on the TV and let her eat on the bed while he gave Lucie a bath in the next room. A knock on the door echoed through the whole room and Bucky tensed violently. Wrapping Lucie in a towel he settled her the crook of his arm and pulled a knife from inside his boot. He stalked to the door, taking a steady breath as he opened it slowly. 

“Natasha.” He'd never heard that kind of relief in own voice.

The redhead instantly stepped forward with open arms and Bucky grinned; he could really use a hug.  
At the last second he realized she was going to hug Bela and he stood in the doorway deflating a little.  
Natasha squeezed the little girl, smiling and speaking to her in Russian- Bela's whole face lit up as she squeezed back and started telling Natasha everything. After getting her assurance that Bela was okay Natasha turned back around and threw her arms tightly around Bucky, taking the baby with her as she pulled away. 

“Go shower, you smell.” She said bluntly.

After a 45 minutes they were finally, _finally_ ready to go home. Bucky could hardly contain himself. It was an 18 hour flight back to New York and thankfully both kids slept though almost all of it, only waking up to eat or in Bela's case, ask how close they were to being home. 

Bucky told Natasha about the facility and the agents and the cold forest, he just kept talking and talking. Until Nat wouldn't let him anymore and she asked what he was trying so hard not hear.

“Why haven't you asked about Steve?”

He was silent for several minutes.

“I don't...I don't want to know what I did to him.”

“What?”

“I can't face what I did yet, I know I have to but I-”

“James, what the hell are you talking about? Steve is in the hospital. Everyone else is there too.”

The blood drained out of Bucky's face and he suddenly felt very light headed.

“What? Natalia, what did you say?” His voice come out breathy.

“I said Steve's in the hospital. What's with the face?”

He started laughing out loud and he was crying too, he must look like he'd gone mad.

“They told me I killed him. He's alright? He's really alright? God, they said I killed him.”

Natasha didn't say anything, she engaged the jet's autopilot, slipped onto his lap and cradled his head against her chest, stroking his hair until his tears stopped and his breathing evened out and then for a few minutes more before returning to the pilot's seat. 

Steve was alive, he was in a hospital room surrounded by their friends and he was alive. It had been four days since their home had been raided, four days Bucky spent believing that he had stopped his love's heart, four days thinking he would never see Steve again. Now they were only a few hours away from him, Bela would see him and light up like always and Bucky couldn't wait to see that. Next to him Natasha spoke quietly into her headset, probably to Clint guessing by the soft warmth in her barely audible voice. 

The steady hum of the engine made his eyes feel heavy and he sunk a little further into his seat. He vaguely noted that both children were still asleep in their car-seats before he couldn't keep his head up anymore and the rest of the world tuned out into a dull static.

Bucky didn't know how long he was asleep but it couldn't have been as long as he wanted because they were still in the air when he woke up. Natasha knew his question before he asked it.

“Two more hours, James. Then we'll be landing in New York. Tony will have a car waiting for us.”

When they landed a car was waiting as promised and it took them directly to the hospital. Once they arrived there were doctors waiting for them, they went to take Bela making her grab onto Bucky tightly and start begging and screaming not to go with them. Her sudden distress sent Bucky into a protective anger at the doctors for upsetting her and he stepped defensively in front of his daughter. The doctors jumped back, clearly not used to dealing with extremely deadly people. 

Natasha put her hand on his arm.

“James you have to let them look at her, the freezing weather alone-” 

“I stay with her.” His tone was final.

The doctors went about examining both of them carefully. They gently wrapped Bela's wounds from the boots with gauze and bandages, they distracted her with a silly story as the nurse slipped an IV into her arm, they brought her paper and crayons to color with, they told her she was very brave and let her play with the stethoscope as they recorded her vitals- all perfectly normal to Bucky's immense relief. 

They weighed Lucie and listened to her fast little heartbeat and fastened an identification bracelet to her ankle that read her name and not a serial number. One of the nurses reassuringly squeezed his shoulder when the IV stick made Lucie cry for a few moments. They dimmed the lights for her sensitive premature eyes and wrapped her a blanket that felt like it came right out of a warm dryer. They diligently wrote things on clipboards and scribbled little notes in the margins. 

Bucky watched and absently wondered if they were reminding the children or him that not all people in lab coats wanted to hurt you. They made Bela smile and they made Lucie feel safe and that was more than Bucky could have asked for. 

The woman in charge of the small group of medical staff motioned for him to join her in the hallway as the rest of the doctors and nurses filed out of the room quietly. Bucky followed her without argument and winced at how his boots squeaked against the clean white floor. The doctor's smile was an interesting marriage of comforting and professional as she looked up at him.

“They're both going to be alright. We want to keep them overnight for observation but assuming nothing goes wrong, which we don't expect it to, they'll be ready to go home as soon as tomorrow morning. Few people could survive those conditions alone let alone with two small children, you should be very proud of yourself Mr. Barnes.”

“Thank you.” He mumbled, he wasn't used to his skill set being praiseworthy for any reason.

She nodded and turned on her heel, he almost jumped out of his skin when he turned around and came face to face with Clint and Natasha who were standing silently a few steps behind him. 

“Jesus, warn a guy?” Bucky scolded. He was still coming down from survival mode.

“Calm down, James. Everything is alright. We came down to watch them so you could go upstairs.”

He looked at Natasha for a beat and then to Clint.

“Its probably best if you go up on your own. Without the kids.” She finished.

Bucky nodded slowly and led the two of them into the hospital room.

Bela's grin spread from ear to ear when she saw Clint and he mirrored her excitement as he rushed across the room to her bedside. Natasha gravitated to Lucie and smiled softly, muttering sweetly in Russian to the baby. The couple smiled at him and for the first time ever he felt comfortable leaving his children with anyone else, he gave a lopsided smile and ducked out of the room.


	15. Chapter 15

Seven floors up he found himself on the trauma ward, outside the room Natasha had given him Bucky saw Sharon Carter standing with her shoulders slumped and her delicate eyebrows creased. She heard his footsteps and looked at him like she couldn't believe he was there- like she could stick her hand straight through him if she tried.

“Oh God, Bucky. You're alright. I can't believe we let this happen to you.” Her voice broke.

“You didn't let anything happen Sharon. None of us could have stopped this.” He pulled her into a hug.

“We should've been there, should've taken shifts or-”

“Its okay, everything's okay now. They didn't hurt the kids and I'm still me. That's all that matters.”

“We haven't left Steve's side, not once. I want you to know that, Bucky. He was never alone for even a second.”

“He does need a lot of looking after doesn't he?” Bucky snorted. 

“Thank you Sharon, thank you for being here when I couldn't be.”

“Sam went to go get coffee, he'll be ecstatic to know you're here.” She pulled away wiping her eyes.

“It looks bad in there but they're saying he's going to be alright. Pretty touch and go that first night though, he kept trying to get up and look for you. He tried to leave the hospital, didn't even matter to him that he was bleeding out all over the place.”

Bucky tried not to picture Steve bleeding out but he appreciated that Sharon wasn't sugar coating it.

“He kept mumbling over and over that it was a Hydra agent that shot him, that took Lucie from him. There were at least six of us there, me, Sam, Tony, Clint, Tasha and Thor and we had a hard time keeping him down. The doctors tried to restrain him but he squirmed out of them pretty quick, he was making his wounds worse. A whole 45 minutes like that until they knew exactly where the bullets ended up. One punctured his lung and the other...”

She slowed to a stop making Bucky lean in a little.

“The other bullet tore open his pericardium and the left ventricle of his heart, that's why he wouldn't stop bleeding. The blood his heart was pumping was draining into his chest and he went into cardiac arrest twice. But you know Steve, two heart attacks isn't enough to keep him down. They had to put him in a medically induced coma because he burned through the anesthesia too fast and he just wouldn't calm down for anything. Once they put him under his body finally was able to start healing itself. His lung is fully healed and the internal bleeding stopped but his heart is still repairing itself. The doctors took him off the drugs and expect him to wake up sometime soon. But they said its impossible to know for sure when.”

“Or if he will at all.” Bucky finished the sentence for her before he decided to keep talking.

“Don't know what we'd do without you guys. I can't thank you enough for being here with him.”

She smiled sadly and nodded before glancing to the closed door next to them.

“God, I'm sorry Bucky. I'm sure all you want is to go in there and see him and I'm keeping you out here in the hall.”

He didn't tell her how it was actually the opposite, that he was grateful she was keeping him just outside the door, that he was afraid of what he'd find on the other side.

“I'm gonna go find Sam, go see the kids. Can't let Clint and Natasha have all the fun.” She said as she retreated down the hall, walking backwards and still smiling at him.

Then he was alone.

Alone with nothing but a lousy door between him and whatever it was he was scared of. Whatever it is they'd done to Steve. Bucky swallowed hard and forced himself to be brave, placing his metal hand on the handle and slowly pushing the door open.

Bucky thought his breath hitched, it took him a moment to realize he'd stopped breathing altogether. Because there was Steve, lying in the crisp clean hospital linens that contrasted sharply with the deep purple bruises blotted across his collarbone, long dark eyelashes fanned over his pale cheekbones and a breathing tube secured in his mouth. 

He stared at Steve, unable to move for what felt like forever. He'd inch a little closer and then take a step back. Once he finally made over to the bed and could actually stay there he just shoved his hands in his pockets and tried not think about how much Steve looked like he did all those years ago when they were kids and the blonde was more ghost than person. When he could barely breathe on his own let alone stand up or get out of bed. 

In the murky haze of his memories Bucky recalled that a Chaplin had read Steve his last rites sometime around Christmas in the 30s but he couldn't remember the exact year right now. Steve couldn't even open his eyes to look at the man because he was too wracked with fever and too tired, the sheen of sweat covering him even though he had been shivering violently for days. Bucky had stood quiet and cowering in the room back then too. 

Bucky sunk into the chair beside the bed before he reached out and took Steve's warm hand in his metal one and drew in into himself, holding it to his chest.

“I need you to wake up, Stevie. You gotta wake up.” 

The next morning Clint and Natasha offered to take Bela and Lucie back to the tower with them so he could stay with Steve. Bucky accepted only after spending an hour thinking on it, he still felt guilty after the four of them left.

Three days later when Steve's hand twitched and Bucky stayed up all night watching for more movement. The eighth day a nurse removed the breathing tube in the middle of night and was hardly surprised to see him wide awake. The hours all bled together in a mess of sometimes lighter and sometimes darker, he slept sporadically and very very little. Bucky's clothes didn't smell like himself anymore, they smelled like rubbing alcohol, surgical steel and the stale black coffee that the nurses brought him now and then. 

It was the ninth day when a low groan seeped from the back of Steve's throat and Bucky's head snapped up so fast it hurt. 

“Buck...” Steve smiled as his eyes cracked open.

“I'm here, I'm here Stevie.” Bucky leaned in close, taking Steve's face in his hands.

“You're okay, thank God. Where are-” 

“They're both fine and at the tower with the rest of the team.”

Steve stared for a moment before blinking rapidly, Bucky smiled and pretended he didn't know Steve was trying not to cry tears of joy.

Bucky climbed onto the narrow hospital bed, Steve wrapping his arms around the brunette as he tucked his head under Steve's chin, being careful of the IV tube leading out of the blond's forearm. 

“What happened while I was out?”

“Hydra got us. Me and the girls.” Bucky mumbled quietly.

“We were there maybe a little over a day before I got 'em out. Then there was a lot of walking. I'm sure Bela's version will be greatly exaggerated.”

“God, I should've been the one...”

“Shut up, Steve.” Bucky couldn't help but laugh making his lover's face scrunch up in disapproval.

“Hydra didn't do anything to them, I wouldn't let it happen. I was afraid that Lucie got hypothermia but the docs say she's okay. Bela too...We got us some tough kids, Stevie.”

Steve's hand slid into Bucky's, intertwining flesh and metal fingers as Bucky continued.

“They missed you so much, as soon as we were safe the first thing Bela told me was 'I can't wait to see Daddy'.”

Steve's grin was almost blinding when he heard that and Bucky tilted his chin up so they were looking at each other.

“...I...I killed a lot of people Steve.” The words hurt coming out of Bucky's throat.

Steve's eyes narrowed and his jaw set in that way it always did before an impending lecture.

“You made the necessary choices to protect the three most important people in the world to me, Bucky. I could not care less that a few Hydra agents had to be sacrificed for the safety of my husband and my daughters. I'm slightly offended that you think I would, actually.”

And with those words Bucky knew there would never be anyone he could love as much as Steve, grabbed the sides of the blonde's face and kissed him long and hard.

The next day when they finally got around to giving Steve the green-light to go home he was practically sprinting to the tower. The super-soldier even took the stairs 47 stories up, two and three at a time, running the whole way. Bucky took the elevator. 

Steve almost ripped the door right off its hinges and flew down the hall to the main living room of the penthouse. When Bucky caught up to him he found a very distraught national icon standing in the middle of the room looking around like a kicked puppy.

“Daddy!”

Bela's small voice instantly put a smile back on Steve's face as she crashed into him. 

“I missed you so much, the nurses at Red Room were really mean but Papa beat up so many bad guys! And he gave me his socks even though he didn't even have a shirt and it was so cold, Daddy! And Lucie hardly even cried at all because she's so good and Papa put bubbles in the bath even though he was tired and then-”

“You can tell me all about it, baby. But right now Daddy just wants to hug his best girl. Is that okay?”

“Yes!” Bela grinned before hugging Steve even tighter.

Clint and Natasha smiled at the scene, handing Lucie over to Steve when he crossed the room still hugging Bela with one arm. He didn't put either of them down for at least an hour. 

That night, after they'd retired to their own floor of the tower which would temporarily be home for now, Steve sat in front of the floor to ceiling windows looking out at the twinkling city lights with Lucie fast asleep against his chest. Bucky slowly padded into the room and eased onto the cool wood floor next to his husband, leaning his head on his shoulder.

“Bela still asleep?” Steve whispered.

“For the third time tonight, yes she's still asleep.” 

Bucky felt Steve's body shake with a soft chuckle.

“You're gonna have to put her down too you know.” Bucky commented, running a metal finger lightly over the tiny sole of Lucie's foot.

“I know. I don't want to yet though.” Steve answered contently.

“I literally had to pry Bela away from you, Steve.” Bucky retorted.

Lucie stirred but it only resulted in a huff and suddenly Bucky didn't care about proper newborn sleep routines as much as he did a second ago.

Bucky sunk further onto the floor and rested his head in Steve's lap. Steve's hummed softly to Lucie as his fingers played with Bucky's hair and it wasn't long before Bucky just couldn't keep himself awake anymore either.

And for the first time since 1943, James Buchanan Barnes and Steven Grant Rogers had finally come home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so so much to everyone who read this!


End file.
